ABSTRACT
Chapter 6 considers the extra-parliamentary FE-groups’ collective action frames and collective identity frames in the 2015–2017 period, focusing on their views on third-country (Muslim) immigrants, Europe, the EU, and European identity. The chapter starts out by outlining the extra-parliamentary FE members’ construction of culture- and security-based threat perceptions of (mainly Muslim) immigrants, which they combine with populist anti-establishment frames, including those against the EU, due to its supranational powers. At their core, all the FE-groups propagate an end to Islam’s influence on Europe (so-called ‘Islamisation’), thereby drawing on many of the same key mobilising frames as the Counter-Jihad Movement. Their collective identity frames are constructed around a self-portrayal as a European ‘resistance’ movement, which will protect Europe at all costs from Islamisation and the EU’s infringements. As they all continue to hold their respective nation states as the most vital aspect to protect, this defence of Europe should in reality be considered a means to protect their own states, something which partly explains their great interest in trans-European protest and ideational cooperation.
